Calendar of Events

Cornell College

Sponsored by Tennis (men)

Date: Saturday, February 18, 2012

Time: 5:00 pm

Location: Mount Vernon, Iowa

After defeating Wartburg in the first match of the day, the Norse went right back to work against the host Cornell Rams and came away with a 7-2 win. Luther jumped out to a 2-1 edge after doubles and picked up five singles wins to maintain a perfect mark in the IIAC.

Scott Sundstrom and Ramesh Karki paired together for the first time this spring and earned an (8-3) win over Ashan De Silva and Orion Wilkinson at No. 1 doubles. Tyler Zinnecker and Quinn Foley also made their debut as a duo and raced out to a 7-1 advantage before winning (8-3) against Garrett Russikoff and Neal Klauer at No. 2. Tyler Van Heest and Sam Cychosz fell behind 6-0 against a strong serving team from Cornell, but rallied back before falling (8-4).

Bellio won for the second time on the day, defeating Joseph Gelfand (6-1, 6-4) at No. 5 to make the score 3-1 in favor of Luther. Sundstrom completed a perfect day with a hard fought (6-3, 6-2) decision against De Silva at No. 1. Karki clinched the match, also earning his third win of the day, by beating Russikoff (6-1, 6-2) at No. 2. Gendron fell (6-4, 6-4) to Justin Bradfield at No. 3 as Cornell picked up its second point of the day, but James Ayer and Matt Knutson won the last two matches on the court to account for the final margin. Ayer was a (6-3, 6-3) winner at No. 4 against Wilkinson. Knutson won his spring varsity debut by a (6-2, 6-4) tally over Klauer at No. 6.

Luther will now set its sights on a pair of nationally ranked foes when the team travels to Greencastle, Indiana on Saturday, February 25. The Norse open against DePauw, ranked No. 4 in the Central Region and No. 16 in the nation, before facing Carnegie Mellon, ranked No. 4 in the Atlantic South Region and No. 17 in the nation. The Norse are currently 6-1 overall and 2-0 in the IIAC.